1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention relates to furniture and more specifically to a chair where the back of the chair can be pivoted from a collapsed position, for shipping, located directly against the seat of the chair to an upright position, which is the normal position of usage.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical chair has a seat and a back extending transversely or upright from the seat. This configuration of a chair is not readily adaptable to shipping after being manufactured for the reason that a chair inherently occupies a substantial amount of space. It is common for chairs to be manufactured in overseas manufacturing facilities which means that the chairs are required to be put into cartons and then shipped by shipping containers to the continental United States. The size of the shipping carton for a chair, which contains a back attached to a seat in the normal manner, is of a significant size and therefore limits the number of shipping cartons that can be placed within a shipping container. The shipping of assembled chairs means that the chairs incur a substantially increased shipping cost as opposed to any chair that is shipped in a disassembled state because a much fewer number of assembled chairs are locatable in a shipping container.
In the past, in order to minimize the shipping expense of chairs, it has been common to detach the chair back from the seat. The back can then be placed against the seat with the result that a significantly more compact unit is achieved for purposes of shipping. Once the disassembled chair reaches the retailer, either the retailer or the consumer is required to then assemble the chair. Assembly usually requires several bolt type fasteners to be installed in place and tightened. Many consumers find not only to assemble a chair to be an annoyance, but it also can be rather time consuming and difficult for certain individuals that have a minimal amount of mechanical skill.
It would be desirable to design a chair that did not require any tools for assemblage but yet the chair can assume a collapsed configuration. The retailer or consumer will only need to move the chair back to an upright position at which time the chair back will be locked in conjunction with the seat and the chair is now ready for usage. Such a quick and easy locating of the chair for usage is highly desired.
One of the primary objectives of the present invention is to construct a chair that is collapsible for purposes of shipping, but upon reaching the selling or consuming destination, the chair can be moved from its collapsed position to a normal usage position without requiring the using of any fasteners or the use of any tools.
The basic embodiment of chair with pivotable back of this invention comprises a seat which is adapted to support the buttocks of a human user. A first armrest is secured to one side edge of the seat and a second armrest is secured to the opposite side edge of the seat. A chair back is to be pivotally mounted in conjunction with both armrests with the chair back to be able to assume a collapsed position located directly against the seat. Upon the chair back being moved from the collapsed position to an upright position, a pin lock assembly interengages between each armrest and the chair back to lock the chair back in position.
A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by there being formed a pair of holes in the chair back.
A further embodiment of the present invention is where the just previous embodiment is modified by there also being included in the chair back cam surfaces that cause the pin lock assemblies to be moved to a retracted position prior to engagement with their respective hole.
A further embodiment of the present invention is where the just previous embodiment is modified by each of the pin lock assemblies being spring biased tending to located the pin lock assemblies in an extended position.